


Kill The Daylight

by simplysunshine



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Burns, Castiel Loves Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester Mutual Pining, Dean Winchester Loves Castiel, Demons, Fights, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-07 05:30:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17954468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplysunshine/pseuds/simplysunshine
Summary: Team Free Will finds themselves in a deserted clearing, suddenly devoid of demons.They start to think maybe they just left.Nothing is ever that easy, though.





	Kill The Daylight

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I wrote this a while ago but I'm deciding to post it now. There are so many one-shots like this, but whatever. Here's my take on it!
> 
> Let me know what you think!

It only takes about six seconds for Cas to realize something is wrong. Something is _very_ wrong. Where are all the demons? They were here not even a second ago, but now, Dean, Sam, and himself stand in the clearing _utterly_ alone. Nothing moves or even makes a sound as they look over their shoulders at each other. The silence is eery in its intensity but they don’t dare to relax, their bodies still strung tight with tension, waiting…waiting…

He watches Dean, looking to him for their next move, but he seems just as confused and unsure as he and Sam. Their eyes lock and Dean shrugs. They don’t look away until Sam speaks, feeling that all-too-familiar tension pull tight between them.

“Where’d they go?” Sam’s voice draws Dean’s eyes to him, his demon knife clutched tight in his hand as he maintains a fighter's stance; his knees bent, shoulders square, and both hands up.

“I don’t know,” Dean replies, meeting Cas’s gaze once more before they flick away. “It can’t be good, though. How often have we come across a bunch of demons too afraid to stay and fight?”

“Never, that I can recall,” Cas answers seriously, and Dean rolls his eyes. Did he say something wrong?

Cas adjusts his grip on his angel blade and turns away, looking into the tree line for any sign of movement. The feeling turning his gut from Dean’s reaction is entirely new to him. He still hasn’t adapted to the complexities of human emotion, and he can’t say that he altogether enjoys it, either. There are just _so many_ of them, all having their own triggers and implications.

None are more confusing than the ones he feels for Dean. They plague him constantly, growing more intense whenever Dean is around and turning into a kind of…longing when he’s gone. He knows the feelings go beyond friendship since he experiences none of them towards Sam. Though he likes Sam and enjoys his company, it is nothing compared to the fluttering in his stomach and the magnitude of the bond he shares with Dean.

And he knows Dean feels it, too; he can see it in his eyes when they hold his for a few seconds too long, but Dean never mentions it, so neither does Cas. He holds the feelings close to his chest and hopes they don’t consume him entirely with his desire to share them with Dean. Somehow, he knows Dean doesn’t want that.

“Should…should we go?” He can hear Sam’s feet shuffle, anxious to move—to _do_ something. Castiel can understand that, but he doesn’t think they should leave. Not yet.

He turns his head, looking over his shoulder at Dean, who has turned to look at him, even as Cas addresses Sam. “No, they will return. We need to be prepared for any—”

“Shit!”

Their heads snap around at the sound of Sam’s startled shout, their eyes following his body as he’s tossed across the clearing into a tree.

“Sammy!” Dean yells, but the demons are on them, blocking Dean’s path to his brother. They’re on Cas, too, and he takes a punch to the ribs before catching the demon by the throat and thrusting his angel blade up under its ribs, not bothering to watch as the dark soul burns up as it dies a second, more permanent death.

There is so many of them. Too many, and soon, Dean and Cas are practically back to back, fighting off the onslaught while trying to make their way to Sam.

Curiously, they leave him alone, not bothering with his unconscious body as they fight Dean and Cas.

It’s the twisting in his stomach and the angelic awareness of another _presence_ that lets him know something’s not right. The demons should be going after Sam. They should have overpowered them minutes ago. They should have…

Dean grunts, staggering as he’s hit with a rib-shattering blow, clutching his side as the demons close in. Cas spins around, taking out two demons in quick succession before healing Dean with a touch to his skin.

And the demons seem to…let him.

“They’re stalling…Dean, we need to get out of here—”

“Cas, look out!” The sheer terror in Dean’s eyes and voice has him spinning around to face the threat, but it’s too late. It was too late the moment they walked into the clearing.

Lucifer’s red eyes glow back at him as an angel blade is thrust into his heart. _This was his plan all along_ , he realizes. _Kill me and injure the Winchesters. Show them the consequences._

Lucifer smirks as Dean’s horrified voice rings out in the otherwise silent clearing.

“NO!”

But it’s too late. The blaze of heavenly light consumes him in blinding pain. Arms wrap around his shoulders and hold on tight. _No, Dean…no, let me go…_

But he doesn’t and Cas is almost glad for it.

 

Sam’s eyes peel open and slowly adjust to the dim light. For a moment, he’s disoriented—the last thing he remembers is the thick veil of nighttime, even though it was just before dawn. Now, the sun illuminates the clearing, filled with the vessels of dead demons and…and Dean. He frowns when his eyes lock on Dean’s seated form, facing away from him in the center of the clearing.

He tries to stand, pushing himself up while his head spins. He steadies himself against a tree and touches his temple, feeling blood; some dried and flaky, but mostly sticky and wet.

He blinks a few times before stumbling across the body-littered grass towards where Dean sits, unmoving. Concern grows inside him when Dean doesn’t turn at the sound of his heavy steps. _Is he hurt? He doesn’t look hurt, but how would I know?_

But his breath catches in his lungs when he gets close enough to see the body resting back against Dean’s chest. Dean’s leather jacket and flannel are burnt away, revealing angry red blisters underneath.

 _Wings,_ Sam realizes. _Cas’s_ wings _._

Sam doesn’t allow himself to sink into sadness. He _is_ sad—Cas was like family—but the utter _nothingness_ on Dean’s face and in his eyes tells of an infinitely deeper pain inside him. He and Cas were closer; they had, as Cas called it, _a more profound bond_ , that he could only ever imagine having with Cas. It was something he could only ever liken to his connection with Jess.

He can’t seem to look away from Dean—his dead eyes and limp hands, resting loosely over the wound in Cas’s chest. His shoulders hunch forward, his head right beside Cas’s. He doesn’t move. Not even when Sam rests his hand on his arm. He doesn’t do more than blink and breathe and stare.

Sam has never seen Dean like this before—not even when Dad died. That was all anger and denial, but this? Dean is shutting down, and, with a reminder of Cas’s death burned permanently onto his chest, he won’t ever be able to forget.

Sam’s worry spikes into fear as he realizes Dean might not survive this. He could survive almost anything, but this? Cas’s death? _His Cas’s death?_ No, there’s no getting over that for Dean.

Sam sinks to his knees beside them, mourning the loss of both his brothers as the sun rises in the sky on a new day.


End file.
